BLS Report: May job openings decrease; quits increase
People come; people go.
This is JOLTS, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. It comes out a few days after the monthly payroll employment report.
The number of quits indicates how confident people are of finding another job if they leave the one they have.
Previous reports:
Wed May 31, 2023: Job openings show surprise increase in April
Tue May 2, 2023: Job Openings Near Two-Year Low as Layoffs Jump
Tue May 2, 2023: BLS report: March job openings decrease; layoffs and discharges increase
April 2023: ?
March 2023: ?
Wed Feb 1, 2023: BLS Report: Number of job openings increase in December; hires and total separations change little
Wed Jan 4, 2023: Number of job openings, hires, and total separations change little in November
December 2022: ?
November 2022: ?
Tue Oct 4, 2022: BLS Report: August job openings decrease; hires and total separations change little (this one)
Tue Aug 30, 2022: BLS Report: July job openings change little; hires and total separations also change little
Tue Aug 30, 2022: Job vacancies rose in July, dashing Fed hopes for cooling (in LBN)
Tue Aug 2, 2022: U.S. job openings at nine-month low; labor market still tight (in LBN)
Wed Jul 6, 2022: BLS Report: May job openings decrease; hires and total separations change little
Wed Jun 1, 2022: BLS Report: April job openings decrease; layoffs and discharges edge down to series low
Tue May 3, 2022: BLS Report: March job openings and quits reach series highs; total separations edge up
Tue Mar 29, 2022: BLS Report: February job openings and total separations change little; hires edge up
Wed Mar 9, 2022: BLS Report: January job openings, hires, and total separations change little
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May job openings decrease; quits increase
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, July 6, 2023 USDL-23-1497
Technical information: (202) 691-5870 • JoltsInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – MAY 2023
The number of job openings decreased to 9.8 million on the last business day of May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 6.2 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.0 million) increased, while layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.
Job Openings
On the last business day of May, the number of job openings decreased to 9.8 million (-496,000), following an increase in April. In May, the job openings rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 5.9 percent, offsetting an increase of the same magnitude in the prior month. In May, the largest decreases in job openings were in health care and social assistance (-285,000), finance and insurance (-139,000), and other services (-78,000). Job openings increased in educational services (+45,000), state and local government education (+37,000), and federal government (+24,000). (See table 1.)
Hires
In May, the number and rate of hires changed little at 6.2 million and 4.0 percent, respectively. Hires increased in durable goods manufacturing (+41,000). (See table 2.)
Separations
Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.
The number and rate of total separations in May changed little at 5.9 million and 3.8 percent, respectively. Over the month, the number of total separations increased in retail trade (+113,000). (See table 3.)
In May, the number and rate of quits increased to 4.0 million (+250,000) and 2.6 percent, respectively. The number of quits increased in health care and social assistance (+69,000) and in construction (+57,000). (See table 4.)
In May, the number of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.6 million, and the rate held at 1.0 percent. Layoffs and discharges increased in retail trade (+87,000). (See table 5.)
The number of other separations was little changed in May at 301,000. (See table 6.)
Establishment Size Class
In May, establishments with 1 to 9 employees and establishments with more than 5,000 employees saw decreases in their job openings rates. (See table 7.)
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The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey estimates for June 2023 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).